Normalized Ratcheting Diagram Under Sinusoidal Vibration Waves

Ratcheting is a progressive incremental inelastic deformation or strain which can occur in a component that is subjected to variations of mechanical stress, thermal stress, or both. This study concentrated on the ratcheting occurrence of the piping model under the combined effect of constant external force and dynamic cyclic vibrations. Bent solid bars represented piping models, and sinusoidal acceleration waves were loaded. Characteristics of seismic loads between load-controlled and displacement-controlled properties were studied from the viewpoint of the frequency ratio of the forcing frequency to the natural frequency of the piping model. Besides, the ratcheting occurrence conditions of the beam and the piping model were compared in one normalized diagram to display the general mechanism of ratcheting with the consideration of the effect from the difference of shape and material. Results show that ratcheting occurs easily with a lower frequency ratio in both beam and piping models. In addition, it is meaningful to use beam models to understand the ratcheting mechanism of piping models. Describing the occurrence of ratcheting using the normalized ratcheting diagram for different components is feasible.

Biomechanical Response of the Human Foot Model Exposed to Vibrations: A Finite Element Analysis

Prolonged exposure to mechanical vibration has been associated with many musculoskeletal, vascular and sensorineural disorders of the foot from simple Plantar fasciitis and Achilles Tendonitis to complex ones as Tarsal tunnel syndrome (TTS) and Vibration white feet/toes. Foot-transmitted vibrations (FTV) are exposed to the occupants using vibrating equipment’s or standing on vibrating platforms. Prolonged exposure to foot-transmitted vibrations (FTV) can lead to syndromes like vibration white feet/toes may result in tingling sensation, blanching of the toes and even numbness in the feet and toes. A multi-layered two dimensional, plane strain finite element model is developed from the actual cross-section of the human foot to study the stresses and strains developed in the skin and soft tissues. The foot is assumed to be in contact with a steel plate, mimicking the interaction between the foot and the work platform. The skin and the subcutaneous tissue are considered as hyperelastic and viscoelastic. The effects of loading in the form of displacements and the frequency of sinusoidal vibration on a time-dependent stress/strain distribution at various depths in the subcutaneous tissue of the foot are investigated. The simulations indicate that lower frequency vibrations penetrate deep into the subcutaneous tissue while higher frequencies are concentrated in the outer skin layer. The present biomechanical model may serve as a valuable tool to study the response of foot of those who work on a vibrating platform.

Computer intelligent dynamic simulation and optimization for structural platform of water treatment subsystem on the spacecraft

In order to reduce the load response condition of space-borne equipment, an optimized design scheme of carbon fiber composites sandwich panel was proposed in this paper. The state before and after optimization was analyzed and compared trough simulation calculation. The comparison shows that after the honeycomb sandwich structure was optimized, its fundamental frequency increased by 75%, the drawing force of embedded parts decreased by 50%, and the maximum acceleration response also decreased. Finally, the response under sinusoidal vibration was evaluated by test, and the results show that the optimization of the structure is reasonable and feasible, it can be the reference of other similar products.

An Improved Rectifier Circuit for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from Human Motion

Harvesting energy from human motion for powering small scale electronic devices is attracting research interest in recent years. A piezoelectric device (PD) is capable of harvesting energy from mechanical motions, in the form of alternating current (AC) voltage. The AC voltage generated is of low frequency and is often unstable due to the nature of human motion, which renders it unsuitable for charging storage device. Thus, an electronic circuit such as a full bridge rectifier (FBR) is required for direct current (DC) conversion. However, due to forward voltage loss across the diodes, the rectified voltage and output power are low and unstable. In addition, the suitability of existing rectifier circuits in converting AC voltage generated by PD as a result of low frequency human motion induced non-sinusoidal vibration is unknown. In this paper, an improved H-Bridge rectifier circuit is proposed to increase and to stabilise the output voltage. To study the effectiveness of the proposed circuit for human motion application, a series of experimental tests were conducted. Firstly, the performance of the H-Bridge rectifier circuit was studied using a PD attached to a cantilever beam subject to low frequency excitations using a mechanical shaker. Real-life testing was then conducted with the source of excitation changed to a human performing continuous cycling and walking motions at a different speed. Results show that the H-Bridge circuit prominently increases the rectified voltage and output power, while stabilises the voltage when compared to the conventional FBR circuit. This study shows that the proposed circuit is potentially suitable for PEH from human motion.

The Effects of Load Location on Dropper Stress in a Catenary System for a High-Speed Railway

In this paper, the effects of load location on dropper stress are studied. We treat contact wire as a beam element and derive its response equation and then deduce the stress equation of dropper. A computer code based on MATLAB is written to calculate dropper stress using the finite difference method. The results show that there are three stages during the period of the stress changes of dropper, including instant rebound, damped sinusoidal vibration, and bending compression. The shorter the distance away from a load is, the larger the vertical displacement of the dropper is, which results in the corresponding increases of its stress amplitude and the maximum tensile stress. The load location has a significant impact on the stress changes of dropper. Compared to the condition of the load in the middle, the load acting on the edge of contact wire could induce the larger tensile stress when both ends of contact wire are considered as free boundaries. Therefore, it is necessary to add supports at both ends.